Eggplant and Zucchini Lasagne

This eggplant and zucchini lasagne might seem time consuming to make but it’s a great do ahead dish and can also be doubled to serve more people or you can use the left-overs for lunch the next day.

When I was in Copenhagen I made a big dish for 9 people. Brianna is living in student accommodation at the moment and they have a regular ‘food club’ where one person cooks for everyone on their floor. Brianna organised her food club cooking night to coincide with my time in Copenhagen. She’s one smart girl. All year she has been talking me up and telling the group that I will cook for them when I am visiting, and how she can’t wait for me to come and cook and that I’m a great cook.

When I was cooking one of the girls came into the kitchen and told me there were very high expectations for the meal. It’s nice to have your own cheerleader always cheering for you, but the pressure was on.

We made carrot and ginger soup, a rocket and roast pear salad, eggplant and zucchini lasagne and a chocolate mousse for dessert. Their group has a spending limit of 25 Danish Kroner per person. We created a four course meal at just 26 Kroner per person, which is a little over $AU4. Scandinavia has a reputation of being expensive, and whilst I did find this to be true, buying and cooking with fresh produce was an easy way to reduce costs.

We only had a small kitchen to work in and we had a few restrictions on time so we roasted the vegetables first and made the mousse, then went out for a walk to a park and then via a coffee shop for coffee and cake.

Even though there is a bit of preparation and a long cooking time, there is a lot of hands off time as well. Look at this way. Slice the veggies, roast them, mix up some tomatoes, layer it and pop it in the oven.

Slice the eggplant, zucchini and peeled potatoes into long centimetre wide slices lengthwise.

Place a third of the oil (roughly 2 tablespoons) into a large dish, toss the potato slices until they are well coated in oil. Spread the potatoes out onto a baking tray and place in the hot oven for about 20 - 25 minutes.

Repeat for the eggplant and zucchini. They will only need about 15 mins in the oven.

The vegetables don't need to be fully cooked as they will go back into the oven when it's all layered into a dish. !Tomato Sauce

Combine the oil and garlic in a large pan. Heat over medium heat for about 2 minutes and add in the shallots. Cook until translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add in the tins of crushed tomatoes and the stock. Add the oregano, cumin and bay leaf. Reduce the heat and let simmer for about 15 minutes.

The sauce will thicken slightly and reduce. Turn off the heat and add salt to taste.

Remove bay leaf.

Cheese-y Layer

Using a food processor, blend the pine nuts and lemon juice into a paste. Add the tofu, savoury yeast flakes, garlic, arrowroot, cumin, salt and pepper. Blend until creamy and smooth.

Putting it together

Reheat the oven to 180 degrees. Spread about 1/2 cup of the sauce in the bottom of a large dish about 25cm square.

Layer the vegetables: ½ the eggplant, ½ the zucchini, ½ the potato and the remaining tomato mixture.

Then layer the rest of the potato, zucchini and eggplant.

Spread the tofu and pine nut mixture over the top.

Top with the breadcrumbs.

Bake for 40 minutes until the top is lightly browned. Allow to set 10 minutes before slicing and serving.